European car sales plunge 25.8%

European automakers association ACEA said new car sales dropped by 25.8% in November. Ireland is the worst hit of all European countries with a 55.9% drop in new car sales since December 2007.

AFP - New car sales in Europe plunged in November by 25.8 percent as financial and economic turmoil hit the industry hard, the European automakers association ACEA announced Tuesday.

With consumers jittery and credit hard to come by, carmakers saw the sharpest fall in sales since 1999 in November, before ACEA's data included figures from the new EU member states.

The slump was made even worse by the fact that there were on average two fewer working days for selling cars in November compared to the same month in 2007.

"New passenger car registrations in Europe fell by 25.8 percent in November compared to the same month of last year, declining for the seventh month in a row, mirroring the financial and economic crises," ACEA said in a statement.